Pros
It's a relaxed culture where you can be yourself with tattoos, different hair and unique personalities (as long as you're not crabby to the customers or your crewmates). It also has a really good starting salary (especially if you have previous retail experience). As part of the Crew, you don't specialize. You will work ALL ASPECTS OF TRADER JOE'S. Everyone, from the Captain to the Mates (asst. mgrs.) to the Crew, works register, unloads trucks, stocks shelves, greets customers, works Demo (where they give food samples) and cleans up. TJ's stresses product knowledge, so we have food and wine tastings weekly. AND if you make TJ's your career, you can have a very good life, because the Mates make VERY GOOD MONEY ($50k to $90k) and the Captains ($90k+). It's not brain surgery, folks, but if you like people and are friendly and helpful (and patient with others), you will really like Trader Joe's. Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. The benefits are good (in CA, 700 hrs a year qualifies you for health insurance) and for those under 30, you get a yearly bonus (but for those over 30, you get the bonus as an IRA contribution).
Cons
Like any job, the job is only as good as its leader, and if you get a crappy Captain or lazy mates, the days can suck. The Captain at my store had 30+ years with the company, but was the most indecisive man I'd ever met. Today this, tomorrow that. It made things confusing. Also some of the Mates came in as managers, so they weren't promoted up from crew. THAT makes a huge difference! The crew would often get angry that they didn't pitch in to help enough due to a perceived sense of entitlement. Then whoever writes the schedule says our sales are low and cuts Crew on the busiest days. We all have to rush around and some have gotten hurt (including me), but we should be grateful to have a job, right? Those who work smart aren't always rewarded, while those who have been with the company more than five years seem to put their feet up and do as much of the work as they want to. They have the best shifts, yet the majority aren't the best workers. This leads to a cascade effect where work not done or done incorrectly falls on YOU. And like every other job, there is favoritism, but as long as it doesn't affect my money, I don't care. Oh, and the customers. The majority (85%) are nice, but the others? You have to bite your tongue and be kind when you get insulted, treated rudely or yelled at. Remember: the customer is always right, even if they're a ranting nutjob.